When Tim Kennedy (16-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) steps in the cage to face Rafael Natal at UFC Fight Night 31 on Wednesday night, it will be his 21st professional MMA bout in a career that’s spanned just over 12 years.

Between his battles in the cage and his journeys around the world as a special forces soldier and Green Beret sniper, Kennedy has learned a thing or two. Recently he sat down with MMAjunkie.com to share some of that knowledge, and to reflect on the experiences – both good and bad – that taught him these important lessons.

I. On balancing fighting with life
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that you have to have balance. You have to have other things, and not be just a fighter. Have a life. I think some of the best fighters who have ever been were not just fighters. One of the major downfalls in MMA right now is all these guys who are like, ‘I’m a fighter, that’s all I know and all I do.’ Then their five or six years are over and they have nothing to do, nothing to fall back on, and they’ve destroyed their bodies with reckless abandon. That’s not going to be me.

II. On family securityI’m not worried about how I’m going to take care of my family once I’m done fighting. I don’t have to stress out about that. That gives me a lot more freedom. I’m not worried about being cut.

III. On dealing with Twitter trollsWhen it comes to criticism, my dad always taught me to consider the source. There are fans who, every day, they hit me on Twitter and say, ‘Did you kill any babies today?’ That doesn’t affect me because I don’t respect the source. That’s always a choice. You can choose to be emotionally responsible for it, or you can choose to remind yourself that this is some guy named “Trolling Murphy,” so who cares?

IV. On dealing with the media
I’ve made big mistakes in interviews in the past. I had to learn those lessons. But I think humor makes a big difference. If you can be funny and get people to want to participate in the conversation, that goes a long way.

V. On picking your battles
Before the Roger Gracie fight, when I kind of made fun of the UFC payscale, that was definitely a distraction. Like with [MMA Fighting reporter] Ariel Helwani, we did a 20-minute interview and spent about 19 minutes talking about that. It’s like, you know I’m fighting in a few days, right? I learned from that to pick my battles a little better. You have to think about the when and where on that stuff.

VI. On knowing when you’ve had a good camp
You know you’ve got a good training camp going when things start happening really easily. Like for this fight, for instance, I’ve been putting guys down really easily. I had to put effort into making myself tired. It’s like what those Olympic power lifters say. When it feels weightless and the bar just floats over your head, that’s when you know you’re doing it right. When you have a good training camp, it feels like that.

VII. On the best gyms in MMA
Even though it’s an individual sport, I love this team. I really love them. It’s a family. I want to succeed not just for me, but because I want my coaches to succeed. I think one thing that’s missing in a lot of fighters is that desire to be a team player. I think you see it here at [Greg] Jackson’s, and you see it at AKA [American Kickboxing Academy]. That’s why, in my opinion, those are the two best camps in MMA right now.

VIII. On being well-rounded
My dad said early on when I was doing a bunch of different sports, ‘You’re going to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.’ That ended up being a good thing for MMA, and also in the military. I chose the special forces because they can do anything, anywhere, at any time.

IX. On using comedy to deal with tragedyBeing close to death does change you, and not always in the best of ways. I had a teammate here recently who had a tragedy in his life, and when he started telling me about it, I made jokes. I made light of it. What I was trying to do was make him feel better. It’s my way of dealing with it. That’s something you learn in the special forces community. We joke and make light of everything and it gets them out in the open, makes them OK. But my teammate, he was initially really hurt before he kind of got it. That’s just what I’ve learned to do. It allows me to take some of the really, truly horrific things I’ve seen in my life and it lets me keep going.

X. On giving thanks for a victoryThat feeling when you’ve won and you’re standing there afterward and you know you did really well, first it’s gratitude. Gratitude to my team and coaches. They showed me these things that I won this fight with. That makes me feel so grateful and humble at the same time. It’s been a while since I’ve had that feeling.

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